The Beautiful City of Stockholm
by HeddaGabler
Summary: Kagome establishes a relationship with Sesshomaru. The Problem is: She is a married hostage and he is her captor. Full summary inside. Inuyasha/Die Hard crossover. AU, rated M for violence, death and bad language. Pairing: Sesshomaru/Kagome
1. Christmas Eve in Los Angeles

**The Beautiful City of Stockholm**

**Summary: **It is Christmas Eve. New York cop Inuyasha McClane visits his estranged wife Kagome at her new workplace: Nakatomi Plaza. While the Christmas party is in full swing, terrorist Sesshomaru Gruber takes over and holds everyone hostage - everyone, but Inuyasha who escapes. While the latter fights against the terrorists, Kagome establishes a relationship with her captor. In face of exceptional stress, a human heart may act in the most peculiar way…

**Author's notes:** In this crossover story, the worlds of Inuyasha and Die Hard will be combined. However, you don't need to know the movie to understand the story. I recommend it, though, since Die Hard is a classic among action movies.  
In order to keep the story in flow, there will be changes in the original plot and characters. For instance, there are no youkai in this story.  
It is an alternate story will contain violence, bad language and some characters will die. Be warned. Please, do not read if you are not old enough.

Prompt: I will use prompts provided by the 500themes community at Livejournal. The prompt for this chapter is: #260: Once upon a December. Originally posted on January 2nd 2011.

**Special thanks: **They go to my beta reader of this story, Sea Bur. Thank you, again, very, very, much. You helped a great deal. :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha and I don't own Die Hard, either. They belong to their respective owners. I am writing this for sheer fun.

And now, enjoy!

Hedda

I

"Keh. California."

Inuyasha was standing in front of the luggage belt, when a young woman had rushed past him in order to jump in her boyfriend's arms, kissing him senseless. He didn't mind their snogging, but in her hurry she had nudged him and as a result caused him to drop the gigantic stuffed animal he brought all the way from New York.

He picked up the bear, dusted it off and resumed his musing while waiting for his trunk. He hated airports, but he could not run off without his trunk, for it contained the other gifts he had bought for his family.

Four months. He hadn't seen his two kids and his wife for four months. The last time had been his son's birthday in August. Now he visited them because of Christmas. Of course, he also visited them to talk some sense into his wife.

Six months ago, Kagome had accepted a job offer for some Japanese company. She had argued that it was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her and that Rin and Shippo were old enough to not have their mommy around all day.

If it had been a job in New York, he would have allowed her quirks, but California not only clashed with his personal preference of climate, but also with his job. He was a devoted cop of the NYPD and a good one at that. How could Kagome expect him to leave his city in the clutches of evil criminals? He couldn't just drop his responsibilities and move to California.

Besides, he was sure that Kagome would have realized by now that it was unnecessary for her to work. Granted, he didn't earn much, but it was enough to keep the brats fed. She had also proven to anyone that she could have a career, if she wanted to. However, she was needed to be a housewife.

Inuyasha picked up his shabby trunk and headed for the exit. He was almost outside when he noticed a man holding a sign with his name on it. The man was in his mid-fifties and didn't look very healthy as he featured a light shade of green on his face. Inuyasha approached the man, curious as to why a man in a brown chauffeur's uniform was waiting for him.

"I'm Inuyasha McClane," he stated.

"Good evening, sir. I am here to drive you to Nakatomi Plaza," squawked the man.

Inuyasha nodded curtly and followed the obviously sick man, if the slightly yellow eyes were anything to judge by, to the parking lot. They got in the limo and took off towards the beautiful, red stained sky of a dying day.

II

"And give your sister a goodnight kiss from me, will you? That's my boy. Bye."

Kagome hung up and sighed deeply. She would have preferred spending Christmas Eve with her children, but her attendance was requested here. So, she set a good example for all her co-workers. Not that attending a party was something her colleagues needed to be persuaded of, but, still, she was executive staff.

She leaned back further into her chair, enjoying the coolness of the black leather and letting her gaze wander. The rich color of the tapestry, the smooth surface of her mahogany table, the elaborately manufactured chandelier above her. It was a truly inspiring surrounding. However, the things she liked best about her office were the breathtaking view of Los Angeles that the 30thfloor provided her with and, of course, the pictures of her dearest.

Kagome grabbed the frame of a nearby picture. The photograph showed her pride, her two little children. Her big son Shippo, who was already nine years old, and her little princess Rin, four years. It also featured her and her husband.

He hadn't arrived yet, which worried her. Not because she feared that something had happened to him. Wherever Inuyasha McClane appeared bad things happened – to others. With his rough behavior he was bound to hurt other people's feelings, hers included. No, she wasn't worried for him, but if he failed to show up, her kids would be greatly disappointed.

"Ms. Higurashi?" asked a woman politely.

A young secretary had entered holding papers towards Kagome. She took the copies from her and regarded the young woman with a curt nod.

"Sango, you should join the party. You make me feel like a slave driver, if you don't," Kagome said.

Encouraging her with a wave of her hands, Kagome urged her to go. Sango nodded, softly caressing her swollen abdomen. Instantly, the elder woman felt a smile creeping upon her face. Seeing her employee like this always reminded her of her own pregnancies.

Sango turned in order to leave the room. As soon as she reached the door, a man almost collided with her in his rush to enter. He looked after Sango and turned then to Kagome.

"It wasn't me," he said while leering at her.

"What do you want, Miroku?" she asked as civil as possible.

He dropped himself on the chair across the table, leaned back way to casual looking awfully smug. Being in the presence of the company's worst skirt chaser was not her idea of a pleasant December evening.

"A bottle of Dom Perignon, a cozy open fire and you for dessert," was Miroku's breathy reply.

The oily voice of Miroku sent chills down her spine …the kind you feel before you vomit. Her cheeks started to ache because of the fake smile she had now plastered over her face.

Where was a prince in a shining armor, when one was in need of one?

III

"Boss?" a hoarse voice asked.

"Hn."

"Everything is ready."

"Coming," a smooth one answered.

End of chapter one


	2. Approaches

As the red sky quickly turned into a deeper shade of violet, more and more cars left downtown in a hurry. Their drivers were anxious to join the Christmas celebrations their families held and one could hear some of them singing Christmas carols while waiting at a traffic light.

Smoothly a dark-grey sedan car turned into the boulevard, accompanied by a single black truck. Both vehicles slowly approached the tall building that towered at the end of the street: Nakatomi Plaza.

+++ooo+++

Inuyasha McClane stepped out of the express elevator, which had brought him up to the 30th floor. He was glad that no one had noticed him yet, for he needed a moment to recover from his elevator ride. He leaned on the nearby wall and drew a deep breath. However, it was of no use, since he was unable to relax as long as the screeching noise of the music continued to torment his ear-drums. He glared daggers at the four fiddlers, who were seated on a small platform at the opposite side of the room.

He snorted and made his way to the crowd, scanning the place for his woman. A waiter offered him a drink and Inuyasha accepted the magenta beverage. He took a sip and choked. He could tell by the awful taste that this stuff had to be expensive; therefore he deposited it on the next waiter's tray. Plain and simple beer was all he wanted, but he doubted he would find any in this place.

"Wanna dance with me?"

Inuyasha turned around to find a young woman staring at him.

"Do I look like someone who dances? I'm a man", he answered gruffly.

The woman left in a huff and his mood worsened by the minute. He forced his way out of the crowd again, certain that once he had found Kagome he would drag her out of this place and out of California as well. There was no way he could stay in a city like this with all these snobs and white collar workers. He didn't belong here and Kagome had to understand this. A soft tap on his shoulder brought him back from his musings.

"Are you looking for Kagome Higurashi?" an elderly man asked.

Inuyasha's eyes widened and his mouth opened itself on its own accord, but no sound came out of it. Surly, he hadn't heard right. There was no way that his wife, Kagome McClane, would have changed back to her maiden name! She knew, how much it had meant to him, when she had finally assumed his name. This was certainly a huge misunderstanding.

"Spending half of my life on airplanes, I can easily spot someone who has just got off one. You must be Inuyasha McClane. I am Joe Takagi. Nice to meet you," the man continued.

Inuyasha shook the hand that was outstretched before him and tried to regain his composure. Yet he had the dim feeling that he was failing miserably, if he interpreted Takagi's encouraging smile and the second soft pat on his shoulder correctly.

"Please, follow me. I'll bring you to her office", Takagi said.

Inuyasha nodded and followed Takagi through the crowd. At times, they had to stop, because clerks wanted to shake hands with Takagi. The Japanese man remained polite and cheerful all the time, smiling apologetically at Inuyasha when yet another employee expressed his gratitude for the boss's generosity.

It was when they finally arrived in front of Kagome's bureau, that Inuyasha's heart missed a beat. Maybe, he had underestimated the seriousness of the situation. His breathing became uneven and his eyes started to burn. Yet, he was unable to withdraw his gaze from the sign which read:

K. Higurashi

Director of Corporate Affairs

+++ooo+++

The lobby of Nakatomi Plaza was quite deserted, apart from one security guard sitting behind a huge front desk. His eyes were fixed on one of the monitors, showing the underground parking lot. A black truck had just driven in and was now standing there, motionless. He frowned and began to search for the delivery schedule.

Outside the building, the sedan car came to a halt. Two men got off the car, slamming the doors behind them. The security guard raised his gaze and watched them approaching the foyer. The taller man with long, black hair wore a black jacket over his black shirt and trousers. The other man, wearing a blue bandana on his head, walked sideways, gesturing rather animatedly and moved his mouth endlessly. At last, they entered the lobby.

"So, Kareem rebounds, feeds Worthy…."chattered the one with the bandana.

The security guard watched the taller man who walked straight towards him.

"….over to A.C, over to Magic…." he continued, while walking sideways.

He could now see the taller man's blue eyes. The two men were only two yards away.

"…. over to Worthy in the lane…."

In one swift motion the silent man pulled out a gun, aimed at the guard's forehead and shot.

"BOOM! Two Points," exclaimed the other man.

He jumped over the desk and removed the jacket from the dead man. When he had found the key card inside the jacket, he threw the card to his companion and placed the coat carefully on the desk. Then he kicked the body from the chair and went into the next room, a small control room.

Meanwhile, the black-haired men had pulled a small walkie-talkie from his coat.

"We're in," his hoarse voice announced.

+++ooo+++

"Inuyasha!"

Kagome stood up from the chair, skirted around her desk and smiled at him. She was terribly annoyed, because he was this late, but at the same time she felt utterly relieved, for now she wouldn't be forced to look in the disappointed faces of her two sweethearts, telling them that their father couldn't make it for Christmas.

She stepped towards the black haired man, but halted a yard in front of him, wringing her hands. 'It shouldn't feel this awkward, he is my husband for crying out loud!' Kagome thought anxiously. She felt like a little schoolgirl, again. Back then she had made the first step, too, or her husband would have never asked her out in the first place. This time, however, she was determined that Inuyasha had to bite the bullet and so she remained on her spot.

Never would she have thought that the day would come when she would be grateful for Miroku's presence. Sure enough, when her colleague felt left outside, he rose from his chair and stepped towards them, clearing his throat imposingly, ending the uncomfortable silence that had spread in the room. Inuyasha now scrutinized Miroku instead of her, for which she was thankful. She always hated it, when Inuyasha looked at her like she had committed some sort of crime.

"Hey, I'm Miroku. Who are you?" he asked and offered Inuyasha his right hand.

Her husband, however, only stared at the hand and wrinkled his nose at it, as if the hand had been cursed and he didn't want to touch it.

"I am Kagome's husband," he snarled.

Before Miroku could retort something unfortunate – you never knew with this guy – Kagome stepped in and pushed the complaining Miroku out of her bureau, friendly, but determined, claiming that she and her husband needed their privacy. The real reason behind her actions: She might not trust Miroku, but she definitely did not trust her husband's foul mood. When she had closed the door behind her colleague, she turned around only to be greeted with a ferocious glare that was directed at her.

'What have I done now?'

+++ooo+++

Koga watched the elevator's light crawling upwards from the basement floors to first floor, while tapping with his left foot. The first stages of an operation were always the most crucial ones. They decided on how the remainder of a plan would work out. 'Establishing control,' he repeated internally the phrase, which his boss used fairly frequently. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Renkotsu disposing of the dead watchman. Koga smiled. 'Smooth- and swiftness' was another couple his boss was quite fond of.

A ping sounded and the elevator's doors opened. Heavily armed man came pouring out of it, swarming around like bees. Black-booted, wearing black and grey shirts, they flanked a man who was clad in a finely tailored black suit, over which he wore a grey trench coat. His long and white hair, which was tied into a ponytail, was swaying behind him as he took quick and long strides towards Koga. When the man, who was even taller than himself, stopped in front of him, Koga ceased his tapping instantly and straightened up.

"What took you so long?" his boss demanded.

Koga rolled his eyes. No matter how good the team did their job, Sesshomaru Gruber would always find a tiny detail that could have been done better. It was sometimes tiring, even for someone like Koga, who took his work very serious. Then again, it was the exact same perfectionism of their boss that had saved their necks numerous times.

"Isn't Christmas supposed to be the time of contemplation?" Koga replied, winking at his two brothers who stood behind Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and his lips became equally thin. Koga sighed and decided it would be for everyone's best, if he didn't test their boss's patience any further. He took the key card out from his pocket and handed it over.

+++ooo+++

"You… You," but Kagome's voice conked out.

She needed to regain her composure, which she had lost due to the blow that Inuyasha had just delivered. To think that she and Miroku – no, that was just gross. Kagome shook her head fervently. A fire inside of her rekindled and she felt suddenly a surge of power flowing through her body. No, she wouldn't take his insults lying down.

"How dare you, Inuyasha? I'd never cheat on you! What has gotten into you?" she yelled.

"What has gotten into _you_!" Inuyasha shouted back. "We had a perfect life in New York! We were happy!"

Kagome stood with her hands on her hips. "No, I wasn't happy. I haven't been studying all those years, in order to clean up after you, just because you are too stupid to throw your socks into the laundry basket!"

"Ah, so then being a housewife is not good enough for Mrs. I-don't-care-for-my-family. Oh, or should I say Miss? Why the hell did you change your name?" he seethed.

+++ooo+++

It was getting darker and darker. Not a single creature was stirring outside Nakatomi Plaza and a peaceful quiet lingered on the streets, which could be sensed even through the closed glass doors of the foyer.

Sesshomaru smirked, distantly perceiving his own mirror image on the glass. Tonight would be a glorious night, even if it wouldn't be an exactly quiet one. He glanced down at his watch. In a few hours perhaps, he would be able to enjoy the merits of silence and solitude again.

With one final glance at the vicinity, Sesshomaru waved the key card over a metallic plate and the doors looked for good. He returned to his crew and issued orders. After all, there was a lot of work ahead of them.

+++ooo+++

Kagome opened the golden faucet and splashed cold water into her face. She grabbed the nearby towel and dried her face, watching closely at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were still puffy, but at least she felt a bit better. Her reflection had a forced smile plastered on her face.

"How did that happen?" she asked herself.

She had no idea. In a few hours she would sneak into her children's bedroom and tuck them in. She would tell them some ludicrous story that their daddy hadn't made it in time, because he had been called to save the world being the hero that he was, when in fact he had already left, maybe for good.

During their fight he had simply burst out of her bureau and was probably waiting for a cab right now, which would take him back to the airport and back to New York. After a few minutes of numbness, Kagome had come to this bathroom, where she knew that nobody would disturb her. She had sought this bathroom out, because the quietness in here matched the silence inside of her.

That was until she heard sounds, which made her heart miss several beats. Being the wife of a policeman she instantly recognized the horrible noise that repeated itself in a sickening speed. Not knowing, what she was doing, she dashed out of the bathroom only to face a man who featured a silver Mohawk.

"Hello, Sis," he spoke, grabbing his machine gun in to a tighter embrace.


	3. The Music Begins

Inuyasha McClane peeked through the crack in the door and clenched his gun only tighter. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was utterly outgunned. His trusty pistol was no match for all those semi-automatic machine guns, which the terrorists were armed with. He watched them rounding up the workers in the corridor, heading for the great hall. It wouldn't be long before they entered his current hideout, too. His eyes darted to the door that led to the staircase. It was now or never.

Just when two terrorists had entered the room next to his, Inuyasha flung the door open and dashed to the other side of the hall. He pushed the second door to his escape open and ran up the stairs as fast as he could. On the 35th floor he exited the stairwell and found himself in the middle of a half-finished bureau complex. His eyes searched the room for other beings, but there were none. It seemed that no one had noticed his escape and had followed him here. He then ran through the wild arrangement of scaffolds and plastic sheets, until he had found a good enough hiding place. Inuyasha dropped to the floor behind a huge desk covered in foil, trying to calm down. It still felt like his heart was beating in his throat, sweat was running down his body and his hands began to hurt, for he clenched his weapon far too tightly.

"Fuck," he said.

What had he himself gotten into? One moment, he had been having a fundamental argument with his wife, in the next one, he had been all on his own, escaping from mad terrorists, who were here for whatever reason.

Kagome…

He hadn't even had the time to think about what had felt like the end of his marriage. He had been talking with the chauffeur on the phone, when he had heard the first gun shots. Now he was here in a deserted office on the 35th floor, hiding like a coward, while his Kagome was kept hostage in the clutches of evil criminals. There was something he needed to do, anything at all.

Inuyasha jumped to his feet. He couldn't let anything happen to her. Especially not with things left unsolved like they were now. No, he had to do something. He would save her and then they would talk again. He would save their marriage, too. Of that, he was sure, but how? His eyes darted across the room.

"Fuck."

+++ooo+++

Oh, how he regretted that their arrival had caused the string quartet to stop playing music! Particularly since they had just started to play the first few notes of 'Ode to Joy', his absolute favourite. Maybe, when the operation was running smoothly in its later stages, he would ask them to resume their playing. However, before that, he should order Koga to not shoot any of them by mistake. Koga's trigger-happy finger tended to turn out as a nuisance occasionally. He himself tried to avoid as much casualties as possible and that sometimes clashed with Koga's temper, yet the black haired man still was an essential part of his troupe. Good men were nowadays hard to come by, with the thawing of the Cold War and all, but his second-in-command was reliable and swift, and his work with weapons spoke for itself. Therefore he saw no need for a replacement.

Sesshomaru Gruber ceased his musings and regarded the fretful flock of people in front of him. All this crying, whining and muttering, all this pleading, bribing and praying; it had become tiresome over the years. It would be such a nice diversion, if hostages used their brains for once and remained quiet and cooperative. It would make things easier for all of them. His operations would run smoother and the hostages would be able to walk out of the building instead of being carried out. Alas, your average hostage did not see it this way. Why should he or she? Dramatic breakdowns and pathetic heroism were so much better, after all.

The white haired man raised his left hand to silence to group in front of him, but only when Koga shot a few bullets into the celling, yelling with his hoarse voice that they ought to be quiet, he was able to begin his little oration. He took out his little notebook from his pocket – his hand in his coat pocket had caused the hostages to cringe and cry out, but his men took care of the noise again – and opened it casually. As he was running through his notes, two workers attracted his attention in the corner of his eyes. They had not winced at all, when he had taken out his notebook nor had they uttered any sound at all thus far. In fact, the Japanese looking old man and the woman next to him had acted conspicuously inconspicuously. He smirked internally, before he directed words at his audience, still not bothering to look up fully.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the executives of Nakatomi Corporation deluded themselves into thinking that they knew the true means of power. They are about to be taught a lesson and you shall be witnesses," he said.

Then, he eventually closed his notebook with an audible thud that echoed through the now completely silent hall. A pleasant smile crept on his facial features.

"Now, where is Mr Takagi?"


End file.
